Overview

The University of Delaware has been tapped to lead major research projects in the new Rapid Advancement in Process Intensification Deployment (RAPID) Manufacturing Institute, led by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE).

The U.S. Department of Energy announced RAPID as the newest and tenth member of the national network of Manufacturing USA Institutes on Dec. 9 at the U.S. Council on Competitiveness’ 2016 National Competitiveness Forum in Washington, D.C.

DEI will lead UD’s RAPID projects, focusing on catalysis and reactors, and also will be involved in other dimensions of RAPID’s research and development agenda led by other universities.

RAPID’s role is to develop breakthrough technologies and processes that will boost energy productivity and efficiency and decrease environmental impacts, especially related to chemical manufacturing. To tackle this work, RAPID already has enlisted 130 partners from companies, academic institutions including the University of Delaware, national and government laboratories and non-governmental organizations across the U.S. The institute will leverage $70 million in federal funding from the Energy Department over five years and an additional $70 million in private cost-share commitments from partners.

State Support

RAPID projects at the University of Delaware are made possible in part by funding provided by the State of Delaware. The Delaware Energy Institute gratefully acknowledges the support and partnership of the State of Delaware in furthering the essential scientific research being conducted through the RAPID projects.

Partners

Personnel

Principal investigators

Paul Dauenhauer
University of Minnesota

Basudeb Saha
University of Delaware

Dion Vlachos
University of Delaware

Bingjun Xu
University of Delaware

Additional faculty and researchers

Stavros Caratzoulas
Associate Director, CCEI

Sunita Chandrasekaran
Assistant Professor, University of Delaware

Raul Lobo
Professor, University of Delaware

Bharat Medasani
Computational Scientist, University of Delaware

Marat Orazov
Assistant Professor, University of Delaware

Weiqing Zheng
Research Associate, University of Delaware

Postdoctoral researchers

Kostas Alexopoulos
Microwaves

Talin Avanesian
Software

Xiaoxia Chang
Looping

Leo DeRita
Software

Himanshu Goyal
Microwaves

Udit Gupta
Software

Lalit Gangurde
Microwaves

Ali Mehdad
Biomass

Vivek Pinnamaraju
Looping

Sebastian Prodinger
Biomass

Hilal Toraman
Software

Graduate students

Sai Batchu
Microwaves

Casper Brady
Looping

Tai-Ying (Chris) Chen
Biomass

Ziwei (Lily) Cheng
Biomass

Max Cohen
Software

Pierre Desir
Biomass

Josh Lansford
Software

Jonathan Lym
Software

Eric Steinman
Looping

Hsuan-Lan (Sandy) Wang
Microwaves

Yifan Wang
Software

Zhaoxing (Joe) Wang
Biomass

Gerhard Wittreich
Software

Education & Outreach

What is RAPID?

The Rapid Advancement in Process Intensification Deployment (RAPID) Institute is focused on addressing modular chemical process intensification barriers to enable the development of breakthrough technologies to boost energy productivity and energy efficiency through manufacturing processes in industries such oil and gas, pulp and paper and various domestic chemical manufacturers. RAPID will leverage approaches to modular chemical process intensification (MCPI) — such as combining multiple process steps such as mixing, reaction, and separation into single more complex and intensified processes — with the goal of improving productivity and efficiency, cutting operating costs, and reducing waste.